Hume will join other key speakers such as Lord Hunt, Lord Black of Brentwood, John Whittingdale, Chris Blackhurst, Phillippa Kennedy and Peter Preston in debating the future of press-regulation.
Held this year in the iconic Titanic building in the heart of Belfast’s Harland and Wolff shipyard were the tragic ship was built, the former organiser of the now-defunct Revolutionary Communist Party, will join industry figures in debating the issues that have faced and are likely to face Fleet Street in the coming months.
Hume, currently editor-at-large of online magazine Spiked, former libertarian Marxist columnist for The Times for 10 years and past editor of LM (Living Marxism) magazine, has received acclaim from journalists for his defence of freedom of the press and freedom of expression.
The book was described by The Sun’s Trevor Kavanagh as ‘a rousing defence of the inalienable right to publish and be damned’ and by The Times’ Daniel Finkelstein as ‘a masterclass in the writing of polemic’. The text has drew praise from both inside and outside of the media industry.
Described by The Observer’s Peter Preston as ‘volleys of freedom-seeking missiles fired from the old trenches of the Revolutionary Communist Party’, the book ‘sets the debate in a different context: between those with their precise codes of conduct, tight definitions of public interest, self-censorship and respect, and those who agree with the great US reporter, Seymour Hersh, that the first duty of journalism is just "to make trouble."’
A fifty-something ex-grammar school boy from Woking, Hume studied at the University of Manchester and continues to write a column for the biggest Manchester United fanzine, Red Issue. He lives in north-east London with his wife and two daughters.
At a time when the industry faces its toughest challenges yet with the impending publication of the report into the culture, practice and ethics of the press, Trevor Kavanagh has recommended the book to anyone who has an interest in the journalism industry and to Lord Justice Leveson himself.
The Sun’s Associate Editor said: ‘Every editor, every proprietor in Fleet Street should read it. So should Lord Justice Leveson before he completes his report on press ethics. No buts.’
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